


The Trials of Zetor-2

by Blue_Rose06



Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas, The Folk of the Air - Holly Black, Throne of Glass Series - Sarah J. Maas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-21 07:35:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,233
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30018363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Rose06/pseuds/Blue_Rose06
Summary: After seven months, Aerilyn is sent back to Hiane. She has to go to the Kingdom of Faedel in order to stop a tyrant from summoning monsters and destroying more cities.-sequel of The Trials of Zetor-1





	1. The story continues..

‘Ready? Fight!’ I was armed only with a long staff, while my opponent wielded long twin daggers. The handsome young man sprinted at me and aimed at my right arm. I dodged and hit him on the arm with the wooden stick. I spun around and kicked him in the side. With a firm hit on his left shoulder he was sent to the floor. The other students were cheering as I helped my friend get up. Shane clenched his arm and gave me a stupid smirk. ‘That was a good one Lydia,’ he said while patting my shoulder with his good arm. _Lydia Brintson_. It had been seven months since I was almost murdered by who I thought was the love of my life. It’s been seven months since Rocky took me in and trained me to be part of his Nightfall Forces. For the past seven months, I’ve been dead to my family. After training had finished, I went to visit Rocky’s office. His guard, David, stood outside the office and didn’t stop me as I opened the doors. ‘Ah, I wanted to speak to you anyway. Come sit down,’ Rocky said.

‘You want to do what?’ I asked slowly. Rocky just proposed that I should go back to Hiane and show my family that I am still alive. ‘You want to tell me that you haven’t missed your Princessy life at all?’ he asked. ‘Look, that’s not it,’ I started, ‘I mean, why now?’ He took a deep breath. ‘Prince Mason is to be crowned King of Faedel in a few weeks. All rulers are invited to that ceremony, many mercenaries will be present. If you want to kill Dasher, that will be your chance, but you can’t have your family recognizing you.’ _If you want to kill Dasher…_ ‘Okay, when do I leave?’ I asked him. ‘The boat leaves on Friday.I will send Crimson and Shane with you.’ I nodded and left Rocky’s office. In two days I would be leaving Adville, the coastal city of Wuether. I walked back to my rooms to get a shower. I step into the bath and carefully touch my scars. The one on my left upper arm from Elijah. I see his head rolling over the ground like it happened yesterday. I carefully stroke the five scars on my belly. Dasher gave me those, seven months ago. He said he loved me, but did he really? He stabbed me five time and killed Asha. I wondered about my family. How would Helena be doing now? Was Mira still seeing Lucas? Every day, I still picture the memories of our family siting together at dinner. After the bath, I put my grey tunic and black leggings on and lit the fireplace.It was rainy outside, so I sat down with a book about Varemarks. I recently found out that the symbol on the shapeshifter and the ridderak were Varemarks. When I asked Crimson about them, she told me the Nightfall Forces had some book about Varemarks in the library. I was just getting into the mood when there was a loud knock on my door. A little irritated, I put my book away and opened the door. Crimson walked into my room and sat down on my bed. I closed the door and walked over. ‘Look,’ Crimson said, ‘I think I found something.’ Now interested, I sat down next to her and peered into the stack of papers she was holding in her hands. ‘Remember telling me that the mercenaries killing your sister’s unborn baby had tattoos of a cross and four letters?’ she asked. I nodded. ‘Yes, an R,W,F and N.’ ‘Is it,’ she asked while showing me a paper, ‘this symbol perhaps?’ My eyes grew larger. The drawing was identical to the symbol those mercenaries wore. ‘That’s it! Where did you find it?’ I asked Crimson. She sighed. ‘In our recordbook.’

That evening, after dinner, I went again to Rocky’s office. David frowned when he saw me, but didn’t stop me when I opened the door without knocking first. ‘You’d think a Princess would have some manners, at least,’ he said. I closed the door and slammed the paper on his table. ‘You knew the attackers at the Black Peaks wore this symbol. Whom does it belong to?’ I asked angrily. Rocky leaned back into his chair. ‘Where did you find this?’ he asked. ‘Does that matter? Whoever this is tried to kill my sister!’ ‘Calm down Aerilyn,’ he raised his voice. I hadn’t heard my name in a long time. ‘You won’t achieve anything with this uncontrollable anger of yours.’ I took a deep breath and sat down in a chair at his desk, legs crossed. ‘That symbol belongs to Arrowfyn. The young man and you quite look alike. I think you’re even of the same age,’ Rocky said while playing with a pen. ‘How do you know this Arrowfyn?’ I asked calmly. ‘I raised him in secret until he was the best Nightfall Force. He killed Helena’s unborn baby because he thought it was Torsa offspring,’ the man said. ‘Why haven’t you told me before?’ I asked. I felt my heart rate rise. ‘You would’ve gone after him before you were ready, and Arrowfyn would have killed you. Besides, you were emotionally seen not steady.’ Rocky put the pen away and leaned forward. ‘He will return from Faedel in the morning, I’ll have the two of you meeting each other,’ he said with a wicked smile. I stood up from the chair, took the paper and left his office.

I really couldn’t sleep so I decided to go for a walk at the beach. The cold breeze brushed against my skin while the cold sand tickled between my toes. I took off my clothes and hid them in a bush. I ran to the cold waves and dove into the icy water. The water was freezing cold, but that didn’t bother me. I felt again a rush of adrenaline race through my body. When I came above the surface, I stared at the moon. After a few more dives, I got out of the water and put my clothes on again. I swiftly got back to my rooms, without anyone noticing me. At least, so I thought. 


	2. Arrowfyn

Before going to breakfast, I quickly strapped a dagger to my thigh. Just in case, because I was meeting a murderer in a few minutes. Okay, everyone here was a killer, but Arrowfyn almost killed Helena. And that’s too personal. I checked my hair in the mirror. I had woven my dark brown hair in a tight braid and my light brown eyes stood out against my brown skin. I smiled at myself before leaving my chambers. I stalked through the hallways and walked down the stairs. I came across Shane on my way to the eating hall. ‘You look bad,’ I said. Wasn’t a lie. He seemed as if he hadn’t slept all night. ‘Well thanks. I had to prepare a boat for our leave tomorrow.’ I completely forgot to pack my bags last night. I should do that tonight then. Not that I have a lot to take with, but still. We walked into the eating hall and found Crimson flirting with a new guy. He had a light skin, black hair and ocean green eyes. ‘Hey Lydia, Shane. Meet Nathan, he’s new here!’ Crimson said full with excitement. If only she knew.. My jaw tensed when he turned his head and smiled at me. ‘You must be Lydia, Rocky told me about you,’ he said. The way he said my name out loud sent shivers through my spine. _Would he know?_ Also his voice, really almost made my mouth fall open. ‘Brintson, Arrowfyn, please join me in the private area.’ Crimson looked at me and whispered “ _Arrowfyn?_ ” without sound. I nodded lightly before following Nathan in the direction of the private area.

Rocky sat at a table and pointed at two empty seats on either side of the table. We sat down and I had my eyes fixed at Nathan. ‘Welcome back, Nathan. I hope you gained some information from Faedel?’ ‘I am happy to be back after a year, Rocky. I indeed got some nice intel on the Chawells.’ I smeared a slice of bread with a spread and took a small bite. ‘So, Aerilyn, how is Helena doing?’ Nathan asked before taking a bite from his croissant. I almost choked on the bread. I looked at him furiously. ‘To your disappointment, she is alive,’ I said. He swallowed his bite and cleared his throat. ‘I only wanted the baby dead because I thought it was a Torsa. I never tried to kill Helena.’ He gave me an apologetic look. Rocky really seemed to enjoy this kind of drama. After a few more bites, Nathan asked: ‘So, did you like the cold swim last night?’ My eyes darted in his direction as I felt my cheeks flush. ‘I wanted to join you, but I had to unpack my bags,’ he said and he gave me a grin. ‘Okay, I’m done. You continue and get ready for training after breakfast,’ Rocky said. He stood up and left the room. As soon as he shut the door, I tumbled over the table and sat on Nathan’s lap within a second. ‘Don’t move,’ I said while putting my knife to his throat. He looked at me, eyes now serious. ‘Listen Aerilyn,’ he said calmly, ‘I truly am sorry for attacking Helena. I didn’t know the baby wasn’t a Torsa. If I had known that, my men and I wouldn’t have attacked.’ I pushed the knife a little harder now. ‘How many men do you have under your command?’ I asked. ‘Four left. The other three were killed by your men.’ ‘Why are you so calm? I could cut your throat open in second.’ He looked at me amused. ‘You sit in the wrong position, I can throw you off me whenever I please. But I like you sitting there.’ I was just about to say something when he pushed me back and took away the knife. He pushed his plate away and pinned me to the table, now my throat revealed to the knife. To my surprise, he then threw the knife into a wall and traced the small scars on my neck. He lifted me up and placed me back in my chair before he left the room as well.

At training, I was sparring with Shane again. Today was fist training. I wasn’t fully focused, but still managed to make it very hard for my partner. ‘Okay okay, I’m going to take a break,’ Shane panted. We sat down on one of the benches and talked about our trip. My attention was drawn to the center of the training hall, where Nathan was fighting against Garfield, one of the strongest. Nathan had him taking a break very soon. He then looked in our direction and shot me a smile. ‘You done with your break? Let’s go again,’ I said as I basically dragged Shane back to the mats and we started over again. After training, I went back to my room to take a shower and start packing. I didn’t have anything else to do anyway. After I finished packing, I went to the library to take any useful books. We for sure didn’t have books on Varemarks in Hiane. I found two interesting books, one of which contained information on monsters and creatures that Varemarks could summon. The other one contained spells. In my room, I packed them in my bag and decided to go into Adville for the afternoon. I visited small shops and bought a black mask that concealed the bottom half of my face. That might come in handy.

I returned back to the keep when the sun started to set. I walked past the beach and saw someone swim. Birds flew over my head and I could already see the boat we’d take tomorrow in the docks. I went back to my room and read a bit over the ridderak before going to sleep. Ridderaks had to be summoned with a spell and some key ingredients, and could live longer than humans. So it’s possible that I’ve encountered the same ridderak twice, I thought. I traced my finger along the symbols that were needed in order to summon a ridderak. One of those was the symbol I had seen on the creatures. I got flashbacks from the Ganei forest. The beast trying to kill me and Lucas. I saw the half-eaten corpse of Sabrina and Kadin’s dagger through the monster’s head. Reliving those moments made me shiver and I quickly closed the book. I put it away and stared at the ceiling. After a few minutes, I fell asleep. Nightmares about the ridderak and the shapeshifter filled my dreams.


	3. The cargo ship

I walked to the docks with my bag. This morning after breakfast, I had visited Rocky’s office once more before leaving. He told me Nathan would tag along. I furiously said that we wouldn’t need him. Rocky just laughed and wished me a nice trip. ‘Where is Crimson?’ Shane asked me. I shrugged. ‘Perhaps already on the boat.’ We passed other ships with cargo. Our ship was also a cargo ship, called “The Isadora”. ‘Look, there it is,’ Shane said as he pointed at a big ship with white sails. We climbed on board and sought off the deck for the crew. There was no one. We opened the panel leading to the hold. Shane climbed down first, looked around, then said: ‘Here’s also nobody. They’re probably in the pub.’ I slowly climbed down as well. ‘Let’s find a cabin and put our stuff in there,’ I said. We walked through a narrow hallway with doors on either side. A few doors were locked, one was a big space with cargo and there were also a few offices. At the end of the small hall, there was another door. Shane and I carefully walked through the mechanics chamber as we approached another door. I sighed. Shane opened the door and mumbled something that sounded like “finally”. There were a few doors, one was closed but two were open. Each were empty cabins with two beds. Shane claimed one room and I the other. ‘Let’s go back and find Crimson and the crew,’ I said.

Shane and I were walking through the mechanics chamber. Although the ship had sails, it also had a motor in case of bad weather. I sensed the attack a heartbeat before the blade struck me. I had my daggers out and in defense before I even saw the attacker. Shane also got attacked before he could even try to help me out. I marked the attackers as pirates, that’s what they looked like at least. It wasn’t very easy, fighting in the mechanics room, with no windows for light and steam and heat making breathing and fighting a little harder. My daggers blocked another blow of the big pirate attacking me, and he grunted as I forced him backwards. The pain in my left arm burnt like hell. I then abruptly pushed him against a pipe and knocked him out cold. One strike of my blade slit his throat. I turned to help Shane, but that wasn’t needed. He leapt over the sword of the other pirate, tackled him from behind and took away the pirate’s sword to struck it through the heart. Bloody and sweaty, he gave me a thumbs up and I returned a smile. ‘Don’t move, or I’ll kill the girl,’ a voice said.

Shane and I looked at the door leading to the narrow hallway and saw a tall pirate. He had a golden tooth, a scar through his eye and missed a pinkie. The pirate pushed Crimson to the open door of the mechanics room, pulling at her pink hair and kept a knife at her throat. Shane put his hands in the air and I followed what he did. ‘Tucker, Gerald, chain ‘em up,’ the pirate said as he entered the mechanics room and stepped aside, still holding Crimson. From behind him, two big pirates with tattoos and piercings approached us, each holding iron shackles. ‘Don’t protest,’ one threatened. They tied our hands behind our backs and took us to the big space where cargo was loaded in. One of the two pirates took off a blanket and revealed a circus cage with the ship’s crew in it, all chained up and unconscious. They threw Shane, Crimson and me in there as well before locking the cage again and putting the blanket over it. ‘I’m sorry guys, I got here early to pay up before leaving, but the pirates came and took over the ship.’ ‘Don’t be sorry, it’s not your fault,’ Shane said compassionately. I tried to get out of the shackles, but the cold metal cut into my skin and was too hard.

After a few hours, I felt the rocking of the cargo ship. Gods know where we’re headed, this could ruin the plans. ‘Lydia,’ Crimson whispered, ‘I think I hear something.’ She was quiet for a minute. ‘Do you hear it too?’ she asked. ‘Yes, I do,’ I said after a while. Then a thud on the deck above made me smile. ‘Quickly, we should wake up the rest,’ I said as I started awakening the crew members. When everyone was awake, someone mentioned the dark. The captain, an old man with a big moustache, told us to pull down the blanket. Reaching through the bars, I grabbed the fabric and started to pull. Shane and Crimson sat next to me, they did the same. Like that we pulled the blanket down and saw the cargo area. The panel to the deck was still opened and we could see the bright blue morning sky. Then we heard a scream, the sword of one of the pirates clattered down the stairs and we heard a splash outside the boat. A cloaked person came down the stairs and removed the hood. I recognized him immediately, although he wore a mask concealing his face. Those sea green eyes and the perfect shiny black hair. ‘I hope you got the keys before you hurtled the pirate captain off the ship, Nate,’ I said. Nathan removed the mask, smiled and revealed the keys. ‘Perhaps I should keep you chained up, uh,’ he grinned. Crimson and Shane giggled, and even the crew members weren’t silent. I gave Crimson a deadly look while Nathan opened the cage and unchained everyone, including me. ‘Thanks,’ I said when everyone had left the cargo area. ‘A gentleman should help a Princess in need,’ he said while staring at the floor sadly. Perhaps he did regret attacking my sister.. I turned around and walked away to my cabin.

Crimson was already going through her stuff and making a mess. We’d be on this boat for a week. ‘Are you okay?’ I asked her. She nodded. As she turned around, a frown appeared on her forehead. ‘You should get that checked, it could get infected.’ That afternoon, I sat in the sunshine on the deck while the healer cleaned my wrists and bandaged them. I was finally going back home.


End file.
